WITH EVERY TIDE, A SEA CHANGE – October Pacific Beach

Every tide brings a new landscape, a new beach environment to marvel at & to enjoy. This month of October brought a super moon & the low tides became minus low tides, which exposed the tide pool rocks. It was fun to see the round tide pool rocks surrounded by living black turban shells clustered in a circle trying to hide from the sun until the tide returned. Even on a perfectly smooth round rock, they seem to find a way to create a ledge of shade. The sea gulls like to perch on the exposed rocks & they look like they are standing on miniature private islands. The super moon has also caused very high tides, too. The beach has all sorts of interesting things washed up. A clump of pink barnacles catches my attention as well as other artfully arranged sea shells & sea weeds. As I stroll along, I photograph this “sea art”. It seems as if the ocean often creates these “messages” to be “read” by anyone taking the time to look. A cobblestone rock has surf grass steaming away from the retreating tide, which makes me think of the sea telling me to “go with the flow”. Art by-the-sea. Wisdom from nature. It is a sacred place by the sea. Every single tide creates a different coastal environment to experience & marvel at. Sometimes after high surf, the beach is covered with huge clumps of seaweed, but other times a receding minus tide will expose reef rocks & give a larger view of the hidden tide pools here. This week a minus tide left a wide open flat beach with a sheen of sea water on it, which created a perfect mirror for the amber sand stone bluffs to be reflected in. Beauty is everywhere here & it captivates me every single time. I feel this beauty entering the pores of my skin, I breathe this beauty in. I carry this beauty in my heart.

October is my birthday month so I went to the beach to sit on a bench & eat a cheese sandwich. Lunch with an ocean view for free. A giant white egret flies in to land on the beach & walks slowly among the cobblestone rocks. He is hunting lizards hiding among the rocks for his lunch. I never feel alone at the beach, which is teeming with life & energy. Every birthday, indeed, every day I spend by the sea makes my life very rich.

On the way home, I drove by the bird sanctuary at Mission Bay & stopped off to spend some time with the migrating flocks of Black Skimmers & Elegant Terns. I walk towards them taking only a step or two at a time trying to get closer to get a close-up photo of their unique beauty. I take a few steps towards them & they take a few steps away. They softly chatter among themselves seeming to discuss whether or not I’m a threat. I try to pretend to be part of the flock, but they know I’m not. Watching the entire flock stepping away in unison from me is just delightful. They may not think that I’m part of their flock, but honestly it sort of feels like I am just a tiny bit. Elegant Terns with their black top feathers make me think of music conductors in an Alice in Wonderland book. Black Skimmers surely are just simply birds from a dream with their top bill that looks as if it’s been chopped off, but is designed perfectly to fly above the water & skim fish up for their meals. Nature is just jaw dropping in its variations & perfect designs.

Sometimes I long for my days at the beach to never end & on these days it is irresistible not to return for sunset. My birthday ends with a sunset sky lit up with orange & muted purple undertones along with a man sitting on the beach nearby playing a violin sonata. Happy Birthday to me from the sea.